'Who Is America?' Pranks Georgia Conservative Activist

WOODSTOCK, GA — Showtime's "Who Is America?" starring comedian Sacha Baron Cohen appeared to have pulled a fast one over a Woodstock conservative activist and one-time Cherokee County Commission candidate. Sunday's episode of the national comedy show included a skit featuring Jack Staver, who ran for the District 3 Board of Commissioners seat in 2016, taking part in training that would detect and thwart so-called violent illegal immigrants from Mexico.

Staver, only identified by his first name, joins two other men who are taken under the wing of Cohen's character, Col. Erran Morad, an Israeli claiming to have special anti-terrorism training techniques. Staver, referred to on the show as chairman of the Northwest Georgia 9/12 Project, and the two other men, identified as John and Joe, begin the operation to "trap illegal Mexicans" by hosting a quinceanera. A quinceanera is a celebration of a Latin American girl turning 15 years old. Staver notes a quinceanera is nothing but a "big drunk party."

"What do they think they are going to do with the young girls?" Morad asks.

"Have their way," Staver adds, referring to the men. "They're going to rape them, really it's what it is."

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here. And like Patch on Facebook!)

The skit goes from bizarre to outrageous, as Cohen's character pulls out a pair of underwear resembling a woman's private parts and tells the men that wearing the underwear will help them trap predators. One of the men poses as the girl at the center of the party while Staver hides inside a pinata filming the entire encounter.

However, the plan is broken up by two officers who say they were dispatched to the "party" due to suspicious activity and that the men were trying to "lure young girls" to the gathering. Staver is found inside the pinata, and he begins to explain the training they were undergoing. The skit ends with the cops discovering the man posing as the teenager wearing the panties with the fake body part.

Staver emerged on the Cherokee County political scene when he volunteered to serve on the now-defunct Committee To Assist County Government, which was formed by a small group of residents who expressed opposition to the county's parks bond. He was also active in opposing the T-SPLOST, a failed plan to unite the 10-county Atlanta region to improve transportation in the area. Staver currently serves as chairman of the Bascomb precinct with the Cherokee County Republican Party, its website notes.

Staver, who admits to being pranked, told Patch his role in the show began a year ago when he signed up for a self-defense training session conducted by an Israeli organization. The training was to be filmed by a production company, and the video would be showed in Israel as part of anti-terrorism efforts. Staver said he researched the production company, which was a "legit" operation complete with a website.

He and the two other men were paid $150 to take part in the training, which Staver said took place for four hours at a mixed-martial arts facility in Buckhead. Staver said he did question why Cohen's character was so heavily made up, but was told that it's common for the trainers to wear disguises. There were two additional trainers who were also on hand and who spoke fluent Hebrew, the Woodstock resident said.

After the training session, Staver and the two men were told of a sting operation that would be carried out by the training company, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Atlanta Police Department at a local restaurant. They get to the restaurant and get into their respective positions when Staver said they could hear cop car sirens in the background.

Two men posing as cops showed up and asked what was going on, and Staver said he grew suspicious because they didn't have any identifying information on their uniforms. Staver told Patch the production crew cut the tape when he began asking for the officers' badges and supervisors' information.

“I was getting really angry at this point," he said. He left the restaurant and went outside where he said he saw a decommissioned Atlanta police car sitting outside. He knew the car was out of service because it did not have a license plate on the back.

Staver said the production company left "a lot of stuff" on the cutting room floor, as they got about four hours of footage. He also said the two other men featured in the show made racial slurs against different ethnicities and did things he had no part in. After the show aired, Staver said he's tried to reach out to the people he initially made contact with, but they have turned into "ghosts." He also said he's unsure what legal action could be taken.

"It's amazing what you can do when you know how to edit, and they have the best editors in the world,” he said.

• You can watch Showtime's July 29 show by clicking here.

Sunday's episode led with Judge Roy Moore, who ran for and lost a U.S. Senate race in Alabama, chatting with the Morad character about a tool he's discovered that would detect pedophiles. While talking with Moore, Morad waves a hand-held metal detector towards Moore's body and it makes a noise as if it's found something. Moore promptly ends the interview after about 5 and a half minutes into the show.

Staver's appearance also comes a week after former State Rep. Jason Spencer's segment on "Who Is America?' aired to national audiences. The now-infamous skit involved Spencer, a Republican from Woodbine, shouting racial slurs, mocking Asians and baring his buttocks in an effort to dispel Islamic terrorists.

Spencer, who announced he would resign from the seat he lost in the May 22 Republican primary, courted controversy by sponsoring what critics call an anti-Islam "burqa ban" and telling a former colleague — a black, female Democrat from Atlanta — she would "go missing in the Okefenokee (Swamp)" over her criticism of Confederate memorials in the state.

Screenshot via Showtime